DRACULA: MURAKI
by Crimson1
Summary: After a LONG hiatus, I have returned with a new chapter. This is the story of Dracula told through the Yami characters. Start reading if you haven't yet; keep it up if you have, and please forgive me. What happened between Muraki and Hisoka? R&R!
1. The Beginning

DRACULA  
  
*Cast*  
  
MINA: Tsuzuki Asato  
  
LUCY: Kannuki Wakaba   
  
JONATHAN HARKER: Kurosaki Hisoka  
  
JOHN SEWARD: Terazuma Hajime  
  
RENFIELD: Watari Yutaka  
  
DRACULA: Muraki Kazutaka  
  
VAN HELSING: Tatsumi Seiichirou  
  
MAID: GuShoShin Junior  
  
ATTENDANT: GuShoShin Senior  
  
VIXENS: Saya and Yuma  
  
My cast will be called by their normal names, but just so you know what role they are taking on, use the above list. Now, prepare for a great twist on a great novel/play/movie, etc. You never know what things will stay true to the plot, and what I plan to change.  
  
*****1: The Beginning*****  
  
The setting sun casts shades of pinks and purples over the horizon, blazing in through the glass of a rather large bay window in a very luxurious bedroom. There is a large four-poster bed with satin sheets and an expensive, pink comforter, along with various tables, including one near the end of the bed that is covered with photographs and a silver, hand-held mirror.  
  
A young woman stands beside the window, gazing fondly out of it. She is quite lovely, with long, wavy, golden-blonde hair, and fascinating eyes. One is the color of amber, the other a mixture of blue and green much like the sea she can hear in the distance, but is unable to see.  
  
Sitting cross-legged on the bed is her dearest friend, a young man with dark brown hair that always seems to fall into his eyes - eyes that are even more unique than hers. Holding the color of amethyst within their vibrant depths, this creature is truly one of a kind.  
  
"We're going to open a business together when Hisoka gets back, so neither of us will ever have to work as a solicitor again." young Tsuzuki Asato explains, completely lost within his own thoughts. "I was a little surprised when he agreed, but we've been partnered for so long now, I guess he liked the idea of keeping things familiar."  
  
"Mm hmm." Kannuki Wakaba acknowledges, far from bored by now. Tsuzuki has been going on about his friend Hisoka for ages.  
  
"I told him how I wanted to quit, and he said he had been thinking the same thing. So I asked if he wanted to try and start up a business together, and after thinking it over, he said yes!"  
  
"Mm hmm."  
  
"Working for the bank gets so tedious, and I'd much rather run things myself, as long as Hisoka does the paperwork. He's better at it."  
  
"I see."  
  
"We already bought that old building on Shiori Street, but we haven't decided what we want our business to be yet. Maybe a bookstore. Or a restaurant!" Tsuzuki exclaims, clearly loving that idea the most.  
  
"How fascinating." Wakaba replies, still acting as if she is interested, but caught up in an idea for getting Tsuzuki to switch topics. Slowly, she has worked her way behind Tsuzuki and is climbing up onto the bed.  
  
"We'll make the final payments and decide what to do once he gets back from his last assignment. I wanted to go with, but Hisoka said it was a one man job."  
  
"Really?" Wakaba speaks, still playing the part of dutiful listener, while she playfully takes one of the sheets from the bed and flips it over her shoulders to use as a cape. Tsuzuki hasn't noticed her yet, but soon she is standing on the bed behind him, looking down threateningly.  
  
"Yeah, I was really disappointed. He gets to travel all over the place. This last job is with some Count in Romania or something."  
  
Ever so carefully, Wakaba advances...  
  
"I hope I get a letter from him soon."  
  
...and descends!  
  
"I really...hmph!" Tsuzuki is cut off as Wakaba attacks, tangling him amongst the sheets and giggling wildly at his expense. "Wakaba-chan, stop it." he laughs in reply, attempting to fend her off.  
  
"Not till you stop all this nonsense about businesses and trips and blah, blah, blah." she answers back, proceeding to tickle her friend mercilessly beneath the sheet.  
  
Tsuzuki lets out a glorious laugh, still trying to gain the upper hand. "I haven't seen you in so long, I thought you'd - "  
  
"So don't talk to me about property and plans." Wakaba beams, at last pulling the sheet away and letting up on her assault. The pair remain lying next to each other, side by side on the bed. "Tell me of your heart, Tsuzuki."  
  
"My...heart?"  
  
"Forget you heart. Tell me about your body. Tell me what thoughts of your precious Hisoka do to your skin and your blood and your bones - !"  
  
"Wakaba!" Tsuzuki cries, blushing shamefully at her insinuations. "What are you saying? Hisoka and I are friends at best. He barely speaks to me sometimes. Why would you think such things?"  
  
Sitting up sharply, Wakaba shakes her head in a wave of golden curls. "You can't fool me Tsu-chan. Whether you're a boy or not, you're still my closest girlfriend. You can tell me the truth."  
  
Tsuzuki blushes more deeply, but doesn't reply, still lying back on the bed.  
  
"Fine, have it your way." she sulks, standing up fully, and smoothing out her now crumpled, blue gown. "You're entering a 'business' relationship with a man who leaves you cold."  
  
"Iie...not cold..."  
  
Instantly, Wakaba brightens, knowing her words have brought about their desired affect.  
  
"Not cold at all." Tsuzuki breathes, closing his eyes as he snuggles deeper into the covers. "Sometimes...I think of his touch...the few times he actually allows himself to touch me...whether on the shoulder, the hand, an accidental brush of my leg...and I tremble. I can feel my heart beating up into my throat."  
  
"Oh Tsuzuki..."  
  
"He's only been gone a week, and already I...ache for him...for his company. When a letter finally arrives, just reading his words, knowing his hands created them, fills me with so much happiness..."  
  
/Tsuzuki. I write to you from the heart of the Carpathian Mountains. My client, the Count, is sending a carriage for me in the morning and we'll begin work at his castle. They say this particular region, Transilvania, is one of the wildest areas of Europe. For some reason, that made me think of you. It's strange that I miss you when you're always pestering me about one thing or another, and I often wonder if entering into a business together won't drive me insane. But then I remember our friendship, and all the times you have been there for me when no one else would even try, and I change my mind. Anyway, I'm just writing to let you know that I am safe. A strange woman, reeking of garlic, pushed a crucifix into my hand the other night when I told her about my client and where I was heading, but I think her fear is nothing more than superstition. I decided to keep it as a souvenir, though. Maybe it's something I'll give to you when I return. Until my next letter...Hisoka./  
  
"Hisoka..." Tsuzuki whispers breathlessly, wrapped up in the memory of that last letter, and the young man who had sent it.  
  
"Sure, Tsuzuki. You don't have romantic feelings for him at all." Wakaba teases, poking the brunette on the nose as she hovers above him. He opens his eyes, peaking up at her sheepishly "Don't be ashamed because you've fallen for another man. There's nothing wrong with it. Love is love. Everyone has equal chance of falling in love with someone of the same or opposite sex, if you ask me. In the end, you can't choose who you fall in love with. It just happens."  
  
"But what if he doesn't feel the same way?" Tsuzuki whimpers, at last sitting up, and allowing Wakaba to cradle his head against her chest.  
  
"Don't worry about that. Who could possibly not love *you*?"  
  
"Sumimasen, Wakaba-san." Interrupts a sudden, high-pitched voice. "That gentleman is here again."  
  
An odd, bird-like creature floats towards them, wearing a darling little apron and bonnet. He is a family pet of sorts, GuShoShin, whose older brother works at the mental hospital and goes by the same name. He has been Wakaba's servant since she was but a twinkle in her parents' eyes.  
  
"What gentleman?" Tsuzuki inquires.  
  
"Terazuma-sensei."  
  
"Terazuma? A doctor? Wakaba...!"  
  
"What should I tell him?" GuShoShin asks politely, fluttering closer to his mistress.  
  
"Tell him to come back tomorrow." Wakaba instructs. "I'm not feeling well today."  
  
Both GuShoShin and Tsuzuki look at her skeptically. "Very well." the bird agrees, and quickly flies back out of the room.  
  
After making sure GuShoShin had gone, Tsuzuki stands from the bed and goes to Wakaba, who has moved to once again stand beside the window. "No secrets, Wakaba-chan. That's what we've always promised each other, ever since we were children. Tell me. Is that gentleman the same Terazuma we went to school with? What's going on?"  
  
"Oh, Tsuzuki, can't you guess?" Wakaba laments, filled with joy and sorrow all at once. "I'm in love!"  
  
"With Terazuma? The bully who never left me alone?"  
  
"The proverbs say it better."  
  
"The proverbs?"  
  
"It never rains but it pours, Tsuzuki. It's not just Terazuma. I have three suitors after my hand."  
  
"Three!" Tsuzuki cries. "Who?"  
  
Gliding gracefully past him, Wakaba goes to the table near the end of her bed and scoops up three picture frames from it. Motioning for Tsuzuki to stand beside her, she holds them up one by one, each showing a different, and yet equally striking, young man.  
  
"There's Kojirou, the lawyer..." she explains with the first, displaying a man with dark hair and chiseled features. "...his twin brother Kotarou, the teacher..." comes the next, who indeed has the same face as his brother, but appears darker in complexion, with silvery-white hair instead of black. "...and Terazuma, whom you seem to remember." finishes the last, wearing a frown in his photo rather than a smile like the others.   
  
His hair is short and nearly black, though it seems to have tints of a bluish-green. His eyes are almost red, with little scars - almost like animal-markings - just below his bottom lashes.   
  
"Terazuma Hajime." Wakaba repeats. "Still young, but already in control of an immense insane asylum. He's studied all over the world, learning dream interpretation and hypnosis. Just imagine the kind of power he must have over his patients."  
  
"But Wakaba-chan..." Tsuzuki whines, following closely behind as she moves to put the pictures back in their rightful places. "...Terazuma was the most ill-tempered, insensitive, egotistical -"  
  
"Tsuzuki!" Wakaba cries indignantly, spinning back around to point an accusing finger in his face. "Behave yourself. I can love whomever I want. I just...don't know who I love most yet." Discontented, she moves to the bed again and slumps down on the edge. "Why can't a girl marry three men instead of one? I know it's foolish to say that, but all this happiness over having so many suitors has made me so utterly miserable."  
  
Pushing his own feelings aside, Tsuzuki joins her on the bed, wrapping a loving arm around her slender shoulders. "Don't let happiness make you sad. That's the worst contradiction I've ever heard. You'll figure out whose best for you in time. It's kinda funny, if you think about it. The man I love is far away, and yours are all too near. But...at least we can be here for each other..."  
  
With Wakaba's head on his shoulder, Tsuzuki and his dearest friend sit in quiet peace, thinking of their lost and newly found loves with heavy hearts.   
  
Had they the foresight to understand how even the most seemingly unrelated events coincide, they may have mingled their tears for more important...more dangerous...reasons. While they think on their hearts desires, someone far away, and yet frighteningly close, is thinking on his...  
  
*****A/N*****  
  
Well, what do you think? Good idea? I think so. No, it's not a goofy spoof, as I'm sure you've figured out. It's going to be the real thing, only fit to our dear Shinigami and friends. I'm really excited, so please REVIEW!!!  
  
If you don't know the un-Hollywood version of Dracula (actually, there is a true to the book one, "Bram Stroker's Dracula," with Winona Rider that is very good) here is your chance to find out how the story goes. I'm using my play script to help guide me. See, I was Van Helsing in high school for our Spring Play, and we always got to keep the scripts. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy, and don't forget to REVIEW!!! 


	2. Beauty and Blasphemy

*****2: Beauty and Blasphemy*****  
  
/Tsuzuki. What a place this is. The chiefs at the bank never let on what a grand assignment they had given me. The carriage came as scheduled, the coachman loading my things in silence before carrying me off into the night. The cold air was pierced by the thrilling call of wolves - seemingly hundreds of them. In fact, when I lit a match to look at my watch, the reflection on the carriage window gave the illusion of countless pairs of red eyes staring from the hillsides around me. I'll admit, it gave me quite a fright, especially knowing that I was on my own, other than the eerily silent coachman. When we reached the castle, I tried in vain to get a better look at the man's face. He lifted all of my belongings with a single hand, and when I mentioned the swiftness of his horses, his only reply was: "The dead travel fast." As for the Count, I find him extremely charming and polite, and he has made me feel much more at ease, although I do find myself shuddering whenever we touch, or if he looks at me directly for too long. He has put me up in the room I write you from now. It is very impressive, and not unlike many places we have back home, except for the complete lack of mirrors. We could learn, I'm sure, from this noble absence of vanity. Your friend, Hisoka./  
  
Back on the other side of the world, young Kannuki Wakaba sits at her dressing table, gently brushing through her long golden hair. She holds her hand-held mirror out in front of her, giving her a complete view of the room behind her calmly smiling face. She is alone - Tsuzuki out exploring the town - and quite at peace. She has yet to make a decision concerning her "problem," but there is grateful solace in having a moment alone.  
  
Or, at least there was.  
  
From within the glass, Wakaba notices a new reflection gazing at her from behind. It is a rather handsome young man that has snuck his way into her bedroom, with dark hair falling over his forehead, and intense eyes that feel as if they may consume her very soul.  
  
"Konnichiwa...Terazuma-sensei." she smiles, startling him in how she has caught him in the act, and lowers the brush and silver-etched mirror back onto the table.  
  
"Please...call me Hajime, won't you? I hate having you refer to me in such a formal way when I...feel for you as I do." he confesses softly. Stiffly. He is often serious and finds expressing himself extremely difficult, especially around this particular woman, one he adores more than any other.   
  
Wakaba nods with a small smile concerning his request, before turning in her chair to face him.  
  
"Gomen nasai...for disturbing you yesterday." he speaks, still sounding somewhat rigid, even with such a delicate tone. "It was impulsive of me."  
  
"Not at all. I was -"  
  
"Feeling ill." Terazuma finishes, gradually coming around to stand beside her chair. "GuShoShin told me. Was it a fever?"  
  
"Hai...a fever." she blushes, knowing her words are a lie.  
  
"And now?" he inquires, never once removing his penetrating gaze from her form. "Are you feeling better now?"  
  
Wakaba grins, rising from the table, and takes a bold step forward, inches away from where Terazuma is standing. "I don't know. Am I?"  
  
His face becoming awash in subdued delight and astonishment, he slowly raises a trembling hand to her forehead. Wakaba instantly closes her eyes at his touch, and smiles as his hand gracefully moves to her neck, still checking for signs of flushed skin, even if *his* would be more appropriate to check for such a thing right now.  
  
"Well?" she prompts, after he had stepped back. She has yet to open her eyes.  
  
"There is but one thing out of the ordinary."  
  
"And what is that?"  
  
Pause. Terazuma swallows hard, wishing to move closer again, but afflicted with far too many butterflies in his stomach to even twitch a single muscle. "You're incomparable beauty." he whispers, barely forming the words.   
  
Smiling even more brilliantly than before, Wakaba opens her eyes at last.   
  
"I'm the ill one." Terazuma continues, turning from her renewed gaze to pace about the room. "It eats away at me day and night, and its only cure rests in the heart that torments me. *Your* heart. I...I love you, Wakaba. I always have. Even back when we were in school, and I treated you like some unworthy friend, instead of the unconquerable woman I always knew you were."  
  
Still in constant motion, Terazuma cannot stand still, afraid to stop and face Wakaba head on. She watches him intently, however, longing for the moment he will once again look into her eyes with his own.  
  
"I work with lunatics." He chokes out, searching for the right way to explain his feelings. "And in that, I have learned from my years of experience that all of us, each and every one, has a secret life. In rare and remarkable ways we sometimes allow one, special person to glimpse our secret selves. What I know of you, Wakaba, is terribly dear to me. What I will never know...is dearer still. Please...accept me, and live the rest of your days more adored than any woman ever has been..." He trails off ever so slightly, and then, taking a deep breath, asks what he came here to ask. "Will you...marry me...?"  
  
This final omission ends with Terazuma standing right in front of the woman he loves, but although she looks at first full of joy, her features quickly twist and change, and she suddenly collapses into desperate tears, slumping back down at her dressing table.  
  
"Don't cry...please...I can't stand the thought of making you cry..." he pleads, filled with panic as he drops to his knees beside her. "Is it so offensive to image building a life with me...?" he asks in a hoarse whisper, uncannily near tears himself.  
  
Wakaba looks up, shaking her head furiously, before returning to the comfort of her hands.  
  
"Is there...someone else then?"  
  
At that simple phrase, her sobs become even fiercer, and Terazuma knows he has hit the mark. Tenderly, he reaches out to lift her chin, and grasps both her hands once he has freed them from being drowned by the tears continuing to pour down her face.  
  
"I thought as much. Kojirou and Kotarou, ne? They've always had their eyes on you."  
  
She nods.  
  
"Both are good men, who could offer you everything you would ever need. Please, don't despair for my sake. The choice is yours. I'll understand. All I ask is that you allow me to be your friend."  
  
For a handful of damp and chaotic moments, Wakaba's tears resume their assault upon her once whitened cheeks. At long last, she squeezes Terazuma's vigilant hands, still holding so tenderly to hers. "Hajime-chan...I can't give you an answer. Not yet. I don't know who I'm going to choose, but I swear I will make my decision soon, and no matter what the outcome, I will gladly take your friendship and keep it close to my heart."  
  
Ever so gently, she leans forward and places the most feather-light kiss upon his waiting lips. Terazuma shivers at the feel of it, so caring and sweet. It is something he has waited to feel for longer than he can remember.  
  
As Wakaba pulls away, he stands, still holding tightly to her hands, and brings them up to his lips, kissing them as softly as she had kissed him. "The touch of your lips, Wakaba-chan, will be something to keep off the darkness."  
  
----------  
  
Less than an hour after leaving Wakaba's home, Terazuma made the decision to bury his injured heart within the folds of work. He is not as heartbroken as he may have been had she told him no, but sometimes not knowing can be far worse than rejection.  
  
"WATARI!!" he bellows, exploding through the doors of a particularly dangerous cell within his asylum.  
  
Watari Yutaka is a truly unique case. Until recently, he had been a successful employee of the Meifu Bank, working alongside coworkers like Tsuzuki Asato and Kurosaki Hisoka. After a certain trip to a certain Count in a certain far-off country, however, he returned completely mad, raving about things no human could possibly understand. Young Kurosaki-kun was never informed that the case he took up had been the one left unfinished after Watari's strange affliction took form, and neither he, nor Tsuzuki, know that Transylvania is the cause of their friend's derangement.  
  
"You've been crying." Watari mentions offhand, cool and collected in his tone.  
  
"Nani?" Terazuma answers, caught off guard as he comes to a short stop in front of his charge.  
  
The caged young man is slender and actually quite lovely, with feminine features, wild blonde curls, and brown eyes deep enough to drown in. He wears curious, little glasses that rest near the tip of his nose, and plain, white robes that gather every spec of dust and dirt. Luckily, a longer chain to the wall attaches the shackles that are locked around both his ankles.   
  
This is more than just an extra precaution. If it weren't for the chain, Watari would be free to roam about. You see, other than the door Terazuma just came through, there is nothing separating him from the lunatic at his feet.  
  
Looking around in disgust, Terazuma recoils at the sight around him. "The spiders have nearly doubled..." he observes with a wrinkled nose.  
  
"I lure them...give them a home...and watch as the world feeds upon the carcass of itself..." Watari rants, crawling among the spiders from one side of his cell to another. Suddenly, he stops, coming to rest just in front of Terazuma, and unexpectedly lunges forward. "Can I smell you?" he begs, reaching out to grasp at Terazuma's clothing.  
  
Caught off guard, Terazuma pulls back, but not before Watari gets a long enough hold on him to deeply breathe him in.  
  
"Salt. Salt, I think, and...perfume." The madman declares, darting back to the corning of his cell where a weathered journal lies amongst the spider webs. "You, too, have been in the presence of life." Smashing one of the spiders on the ground, Watari picks it up and crams it into his mouth. "And life tastes good, ne, Hajime-chan?"  
  
"Urg. That's revolting." Terazuma sneers, stepping closer, near the other corner, where a birdcage sits against the wall. "You've trained the owl, I see." he comments, bending down beside it.  
  
Watari looks up from writing furiously in his journal, and smiles devilishly. "Hai, a good bird. I call him 003."  
  
"003?"  
  
"Double zero's for nothing to lose, and three for...for...for how many times it takes before she's his."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
Watari takes a moment to think about it, but when he answers, it comes out a question instead. "Why won't she marry you?"  
  
Terazuma freezes in place, still crouched near the birdcage. Watari is looking at him intensely, hunched over his journal, and has a look in his eye of genuine curiosity. "Wh...What are you talking about?"  
  
"I would brood if I were you." Watari suggests. "I would brood and think of sporadic killings! Yes! That would ease your aching heart, ne? You just have to take someone else's." Madly, he dives back into his journal, scribbling at the pages. "...yes, yes...very good...yes..."  
  
Slowly, Terazuma stands back up and advances on Watari, always with an eye on the madman himself, and another on the spiders clamoring over the floor. "But why, Watari-san? Why do you eat the spiders? Why the flies and the worms when they slip inside this room?"  
  
"I have a great love for animals." He smirks, not quite looking up from his writing.  
  
"No evasions today. I'm not in the mood."  
  
"They are life...and they give life to me...blood running into blood..."  
  
"And the notebook?"  
  
"Eh? Nevermind it."  
  
"But you must have a plan of some kind." Terazuma presses, slipping closer and closer to Watari with every word.  
  
"No." the blonde grumbles, buried in his pages.  
  
"First the spiders and flies, and now training the owl -"  
  
"No!!"  
  
"Yes, I say! Yes! I am going to solve you, Watari-san. I must. If I can find and hold the key to just one lunatic, I might advance my studies to an esteem higher than anything the world has ever seen!"  
  
"And Wakaba-san would give her hand?"  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"May I have a kitten?" Watari asks suddenly, crawling away from his journal over to Terazuma, who is now only a few feet away.  
  
"Nani?!" the brunette barks back, stumbling away as Watari clutches at his pant leg.  
  
"A kitten." Watari repeats, clinging tightly even as Terazuma pushes him away. "Please, please. A nice little kitten I can play with...and teach...and feed. Yes...feed! And feed and feed and FEED!" he cries, releasing Terazuma to reach hungrily at the ceiling. Then, just as suddenly, he clamps back on to the cuff of Terazuma's pants, completely calm. "No one would refuse me a kitten, would they?"  
  
Sternly, Terazuma glares down at him, more and more furious by the minute. "How do you know her name?" he demands.  
  
Watari instantly retreats, releasing him and going to huddle near his journal again. "...blood...spider blood...fly blood...owl blood -"  
  
"Tell me!" Terazuma cries, dashing after him and grasping Watari's shoulder. The blonde whirls around, teeth bared, eyes flashing, and Terazuma backs down in fear, inching away. "Tell me." he says again, much softer - almost afraid. "Wakaba-san. How do you know her name?"  
  
Sinking back down to the ground, Watari continues staring up at Terazuma with an odd glint in his chocolate-colored eyes. "My master." he whispers.  
  
"Na...nani?"  
  
"My master told me!!" Watari squeals, and as if on cue, a crash of thunder sounds outside, sending Terazuma running for the door, while the madman left behind howls joyously at the rising moon.  
  
The storm. The sea. The madness. They have all only just begun to tell their tale.  
  
*****A/N*****  
  
Chapter 2, minna! What do you think? Now you've met both Terazuma as Doctor Seward and Watari as psycho Renfield. Good? I hope so, but tell me so I can keep going. Thanks for reviews so far, and please keep it up. PLEASE REVIEW!!! 


	3. He walks in Beauty like the Night

*****3:He walks in Beauty like the Night*****  
  
/Tsuzuki. I fear I have slipped within the fabric of a nightmare. This place is not at all what it first seemed. The count is like no man I have ever known, as if I am mistaken to even call him a man. I feel the dread of his presence overwhelming me. I am surrounded by terrors I dare not believe are true.../  
  
The storm outside breaks open, ripping through the night. Wakaba's bedroom is veiled in darkness, not yet disturbed by the crashes of thunder and mad strikes of lightening across the sky. Somehow, an eerily crimson moon hangs full through the ashen clouds, while torrents of rain pelt the side of the house mercilessly, madly pounding against the walls.  
  
For lack of a suitable guestroom, and at Wakaba's insistence, Tsuzuki lies asleep on the chaise that rests beside the far wall. Wakaba herself is soundly slumbering in the bed, but her sweet dreams are about to be shattered.  
  
The storm rages on, and outside the sound of a wolf is suddenly heard echoing over the landscape, far in the distance. At this haunting, animal cry, Wakaba stirs, sits up, and begins to escape the bed as if in a trance. She is sleepwalking, eyes dull and half-open, as she makes her way to the window. The drapes are thrown wide, revealing the chaos of the storm, and she longingly caresses the glass.   
  
The wolf howls again, forcing Wakaba up against the window completely, as if captured by the glass itself. She longs to pass through it, meld with it, until she is free amongst the night.  
  
CRASH. Thunder sounds again, this time shaking the very foundation of the house, and Tsuzuki jolts awake. Instinctively looking to the bed as he rubs his tired eyes, he sees that it is empty, noticing the shadow pressed against the glass of the window.  
  
"Wakaba...?" he inquires groggily, sitting up with a yawn. "What are you doing?"  
  
Wakaba offers him no reaction, still caught up within this unexplainable rapture.  
  
"You're dreaming, Wakaba-chan. Sleepwalking. Come back to bed, kudasai."  
  
Still, she gives no reaction, remaining right where she is.   
  
Rightfully worried now, Tsuzuki gets up from the chaise, shivering at the feel of the floor so cold beneath his bare feet. He advances on Wakaba at the window, hugging himself around the shoulders.   
  
Modest, but as comfortable as a brother would be around his dear friend, Tsuzuki had gone to bed in his usual, cotton pants - nothing more. Now, he finds himself regretting that choice.  
  
"The storm woke you, I bet. Woke me, too." Tsuzuki begins, taking hold of Wakaba's shoulders to pull her away from the glass. "You're just dreaming, Wakaba-chan. Come morning, it will all be gone."  
  
Another howl cries out from that distant wolf and Wakaba pushes Tsuzuki away, leaping forward to throw back the windows, allowing the rushing wind to blow harshly inside. Climbing up unto the windowsill, she reaches out, beckoning the night to come in with it.  
  
"Nan desu, ka, Wakaba-chan?" Tsuzuki cries, shivering even more at the feel of that biting wind. "What's there? What do you see?"  
  
"...the waves..." she answers, sounding faraway, in a singsong voice that is not her own. "...the waves are wild! The ship is tossed about!"  
  
"You're scaring me, Wakaba. Please...come down from there -"  
  
"Fear not! The ship will find its port. The ship will best the storm!"  
  
"Wakaba, there are no ships. None would be out in a storm like this -"  
  
"There it is! Riding the waves! Pounding on the blood of the Earth!"  
  
CRASH! Lightening again, and Tsuzuki jumps, frightened for so many reason he cannot explain. This storm is unnatural, Wakaba is acting wild beyond imagination, and something else...something else stirs within him like nothing he has ever known.  
  
In the far distance, the ocean stretches before them, and if he didn't believe it was impossible to see through such a storm, on such a dark night, save the red moon above, he would swear he could see the very ship she speaks of.  
  
----------  
  
CRASH.  
  
"He is here! He has come for me! The Master has come!"  
  
So close, and yet so far away, Watari is wild with the storm as well, madly darting from side to side, clinging and clawing at the padded walls.  
  
Outside the cell, Terazuma dashes down the hallway, able to hear those violent screams from his office as clearly as someone standing at the door. GuShoShin Senior flutters about nervously, afraid to go inside himself, and is overjoyed when he sees that the doctor is coming towards him.  
  
"What on earth is going on in there?!" Terazuma demands, skidding to a halt.  
  
"The storm." GuShoShin explains. "It seems to have set him off somehow."  
  
Daring the possibilities, Terazuma pushes past the bird and throws the door open, discovering the lunatic in a frenzy, straining his chain as he haphazardly moves from one corner of the cell to another.  
  
"Nan desu, ka, Watari?!" he barks, forming back against the far cell wall for fear of getting in the blonde's way.  
  
Watari takes a momentary pause, grinning slyly back at the frightened doctor. "My master grows near." he laughs, before darting about again.  
  
"Watari, what are you talking about?"  
  
"He is coming! Coming to take me away from here and join him for all eternity!"  
  
Terazuma swallows hard, still pressing his back into the wall as he surveys the cell. Despite being distracted by Watari's frantic flitting about, he notices that the room is surprisingly clean. Not a single insect roams about. Not a single one.  
  
"The flies are gone...and the spiders as well..." he comments, absently leaving the all too recent haven of that wall. "Look at me, Watari. Tell me. Tell me what became of them."  
  
Watari grins again, pausing in his rants and raves to curl tightly against the padding of the furthest corner.  
  
Frowning deeply, Terazuma surveys the room again, this time noticing the birdcage, still in its usual place, but without it's usual occupant. That darling owl 003 is nowhere to be found.  
  
"What happened to the owl?" he asks now, crossing the cell to where Watari has snuggled in. "Where is it? What did you do with it?!"  
  
Terazuma's fearful anger is clear, but Watari merely keeps on grinning, starting to cough as the doctor circles him, demanding a reply. Watari does not give a reply, though; he can't. He continues coughing, more and more harshly, as if something is caught in his throat.   
  
To Terazuma's complete disgust, the madman suddenly coughs up what he has been struggling with: a handful of saliva-soaked, brown and white feathers.  
  
"My God..." the doctor breathes. Then, without a second of hesitation, he dashes to the doorway. "Bring me the straitjacket! Now!!" he orders, and in a panicked flight, GuShoShin flies off to retrieve it.  
  
Waiting with wild anticipation in his eyes, Watari giggles happily, enjoying the disgust Terazuma assesses him with. Sodden with renewed dementia, he is truly something to be feared.  
  
----------  
  
/...the digging! All day and all night, this constant sound of digging! Oh, Tsuzuki, if only I knew what it all meant. I long to have you with me. I don't understand why only thoughts of you seem to bring me peace, but they do. Even in this God-forsaken place. Perhaps it is your smile, your pestering, or even the annoying way you beg and plead to have your way, but I wish to God you were here. Great, wooden boxes have been hauled away, but why, I have no idea. I fear I am the only living soul within this place, trapped by some unknown evil. Everywhere I turn there are doors. Doors, doors, doors - all locked and bolted. I am a prisoner! I must escape from here. Dear Tsuzuki, if I fail, please remember me as I was, as your friend. I was never good at expressing the love I have for that friendship, but please, do not hold it against me now, at this dark hour. Remember me and keep me in your prayers. Tsuzuki! REMEMBER!/  
  
"Wakaba, no! Get down from there!" Tsuzuki cries, held back by the impossible force of wind blowing in through the window.  
  
Still dangerously up on the sill, Wakaba reaches out again and again, basking in the spray of the rain. "I want to see the ship!"  
  
"No! Take my hand, Wakaba. It isn't safe."  
  
"Look! He's coming for me!"  
  
"Wakaba, stop this. You're dreaming -"  
  
"I'm here! Take me away! I'm here!"  
  
----------  
  
"Watari, that's enough! I'll not have you acting this way." Terazuma warns, inching closer to the tensing lunatic still crouched in the corner.  
  
"My Master will protect me...he'll make you pay dearly for locking me away..." the blonde rants, staring at the outstretched straitjacket in the doctor's trembling hands. GuShoShin is long gone.  
  
"Stop this nonsense! You will be punished for defiling yourself in such a way."  
  
"Do not weep for 003." Watari grins, speaking in oddly soothing tones. "He was not frightened to give me the power I required. It was an honor. Just as it will be an honor when the Master tastes from me again -"  
  
"Enough!"  
  
CRASH. This stroke of lightening and thunder does more than just startle the poor doctor, it leaves him and the cell in complete darkness.  
  
Turning madly from side to side, Terazuma stands on guard, unable to see anything, even what is right in front of his face. In a heartbeat, he suddenly feels the straitjacket being pulled away from him, and before he can defend himself, he is whipped around violently, with a course sleeve wrapping tightly around his throat.  
  
CRASH. The lights are back, and the tables are turned.  
  
"Wa...Wata...ri..." Terazuma gasps, unable to breathe, let alone form words.  
  
"You should have been nice to me." the blonde whispers, nuzzling against Terazuma's face, while powerful arms tighten the straitjacket around the doctor's neck. "Now *you* will be the one who is punished. I think I'll make you my new pet...Hajime-chan. Hehehe. You know what happens to my pets, ne?"  
  
Terazuma shudders, struggling wildly to free himself.  
  
"You will be a fine sacrifice to my Master." Watari purrs, licking his lips. "He gains power through me, you see. Not nearly enough to sustain him, but enough for him to grant me favors should I offer something ripe and full of fear...like you."  
  
Terazuma shudders again, but this time, it is much deeper. Slowly, Watari has begun running his silky tongue up along the exposed part of the doctor's throat, and further along his cheek.   
  
"Mmm...you taste good...Hajime-chan...but I think my Master has a taste for someone else to give him back his strength...someone who will fall easily under his spell...before he takes the one he has truly come for...hehehe...perhaps then...you will be an appetizer, ne?"  
  
"Not while I'm on watch!"  
  
ZAP! Soaring in heroically, GuShoShin appears to toss a magical ward in the madman's face, and Watari recoils back, releasing Terazuma as the doctor scampers away, gasping for air.  
  
GuShoShin retrieves the jacket, making sure Watari has been rendered unconscious, and returns it to the much relieved doctor.   
  
"Well done...GuShoShin." Terazuma expresses laboriously. "When the lights went out...he caught me by surprise, and...he was so fast..." Absently, he rubs at his bruised neck, happy to be free of the cell as he leaves it behind. "Remind me to...be more cautious with him...from now on..."  
  
"Hai. A wise decision, sensei." the bird agrees, floating down the hallway beside him.  
  
"For now...keep an eye on him...while I...go out and see what kind of affect this storm has had...on the rest of the town..."  
  
----------  
  
"It's just as they said..." Terazuma breathes, walking the length of the ship's deck, and approaching the wheel.  
  
The entirety is weathered and surrounded by battered planks of wood. This ship has seen a dark and dreary night, the sun still not risen, and only the good doctor is out and about now to see what is left of a once grand master of the sea.  
  
Only he...and one more, that is.  
  
"Hai...it is just as they said." echoes an unearthly voice, causing Terazuma to jump nearly a foot backwards.  
  
From out of the shadows, a man has appeared, dressed all in black, his face hidden by a highly drawn scarf and low-riding top-hat.  
  
"Forgive me if I have frightened you." the stranger laments, coming parallel to Terazuma and the ship's wheel.   
  
One of the crew is fastened to it, long dead, as if he had hung on for dear life only to die at the mercy of the storm.  
  
"It's easy to be jumpy on a night like this." Terazuma smiles weakly, stepping closer again, but failing to make out more of the man's face. "Tell me, do you know if any of the crew survived?"  
  
"Only a dog, they say." he replies smoothly, like liquefied silk pouring from a silver tongue.  
  
"A...dog?"  
  
"A large, grey dog, like a wolf, that leapt from the ship as it struck land. Or so they say."  
  
"It's a wonder the ship made it to port at all in such a storm." the doctor replies, bending beside the fallen crewman to get a closer look.  
  
"Hai. Truly...a miracle."  
  
Tensing at the feel of the stranger's gaze watching him, Terazuma stands quickly, turning back to face him. "Pardon my manners, I don't believe I know you. I am Terazuma Hajime."  
  
The stranger ponders this, eyeing him carefully. "You run the asylum, do you not?"  
  
"Hai." Terazuma answers slowly, strangely uncomfortable. "And...you are?"  
  
"Kurosaki." he answers, almost haltingly, as if sizing up his own name. "Kurosaki Hisoka."  
  
Looking curiously up at this tall figure - for he is indeed strikingly tall and well-built - Terazuma extends an unsteady hand in introduction. This...Kurosaki-san...eyes that hand for a good handful of awkward moments, before extending his own.   
  
Neither men are wearing gloves, even on such a chilly night, and when Terazuma pulls his hand away, he has the strangest feeling that it has gone numb. An intense cold shivers through him like ice water in the veins after feeling the man's freezing skin.  
  
Nevermind. It must just be the wind.  
  
"Well, Kurosaki-san, this is a true pleasure. I've heard of you from Kannuki Wakaba. It seems her good friend, and an old acquaintance of mine, are one in the same: your partner, Tsuzuki Asato."  
  
"Tsuzuki..." the strange man whispers, tasting the name on his unseen lips. "You are correct. And...if I am not mistaken, I believe you are rather close with Wakaba-san, ne? I hear she is very beautiful."  
  
Despite himself, Terazuma represses a blush. "Very. But...how odd to meet you here like this."  
  
"Where would you have had us meet?"  
  
Terazuma doesn't have an answer to that. "Well. I suppose you have a point there. Good to know you finally, at any rate."  
  
Sadly, the smile Terazuma had attempted falls away fast as this looming Kurosaki-san crouches beside the dead body much as he had before.  
  
The strange man touches a hand gently to the gaunt, lifeless face in a manner that seems far too...affectionate. "He was a righteous man. Is this, you suppose, what happens to righteous men?"  
  
"The strangest fact I've heard...is how he lashed himself to the wheel with his own rosary. Now, up close, I see it was not a lie. What a wonder."  
  
"Aa. Wonders never cease, they say."  
  
Eyeing this cryptic man as he stands once more, Terazuma shudders at how the shadows seem to flock about him, desiring to be apart of him. "We'll never know, will we?"  
  
Kurosaki-san turns, only his eyes visible in the darkness. They are unlike any natural color. Colorless, actually. Gleaming silver with hints of eerie light. "That depends."  
  
"On what...?"  
  
"On what you're hoping to know." he grins, or so it would seem, if Terazuma could make out the man's mouth. Then, with a tip of his hat... "Good day...Terazuma-sensei." ...he turns and disappears into the fading night.  
  
Terazuma is left to stand on the deck alone as the sun begins to rise. Such peace, such promise, and such power the rising sun holds. For reasons he cannot yet comprehend, Terazuma is grateful the day has appeared when it has.  
  
*****A/N*****  
  
Long and full of action! Hope you're enjoying. Obviously, Kurosaki-san was not actually Hisoka, but I'm sure you can guess who it really is. :-) As for the others, everything will fall into place. Next, Wakaba begins to get her midnight visits. Ja! 


	4. The Veiled Truth

*****4: The Veiled Truth*****  
  
The restless night has come to an end, and dawn has proven once again to be the savior of those in darkness. All are safe, for now. But much needs to be answered, much light needs to be shed, and much hope needs to be found before this nightmare can be put to rest.  
  
"And then?" Wakaba presses, urging Tsuzuki to tell her more.  
  
"I've already told you more than I should have." the brunette answers weakly, very shaken by all that has transpired.  
  
Wakaba is lying back in bed, afflicted by a powerful fever. Tsuzuki sits beside her in a chair he pulled over from the dressing table, retelling his friend the events of the previous night.  
  
Although she had been the main attraction for most of the oddities Tsuzuki witnessed, Wakaba remembers very little, and longs to grasp some tiny clue as to what has befallen her.  
  
"Please, Asato. I must know."  
  
Asato. She only refers to Tsuzuki by his given name when she is truly angry or truly serious. Neither come about very often, and the poor young man knows there is no way for him to escape her trap.  
  
Nervously wringing his hands, Tsuzuki shifts in the chair, unable to look Wakaba in the eye. "After you jumped from the window, I tried to follow you." he speaks softly, hesitantly. "But you were too fast. I couldn't keep up. When I finally found you, you were lying by the rocks near the shoreline. I still can't believe you didn't get swept in. You could have drowned. I was so scared, all I could do was pick you up and carry you back to the house."  
  
"Tsuzuki -"  
  
"You're fine now. You're safe. I've sent for Terazuma to check you over, just in case."  
  
"Tsuzuki, listen to me." Wakaba stresses urgently, grasping one of her friend's trembling hands. "Promise me, as my dearest friend, that you won't tell anyone what really happened. Not Hajime, or my family, or anyone else. Promise me."  
  
Lifting his violet eyes to study Wakaba's deathly pale face, Tsuzuki reaches out with his free hand to stroke her cheek. At long last, he nods in reply to her request, but feels a certain unsettling tremor in the pit of his stomach. Everything is wrong.  
  
"Let's change the subject, kudesai." Wakaba smiles, instantly missing the warmth of Tsuzuki's hand when he pulls it away. "What of Hisoka? You haven't heard from him in so long."  
  
"There's still no news." Tsuzuki replies mournfully, clearly worried. "Almost a month since his last letter, and still not a word. I hate to think something happened to his newest message, keeping it from reaching me. Or, at the very worst, that something has happened to him. I just wish I knew -"  
  
"Terazuma-sensei is here, Wakaba-san." interrupts GuShoShin's unique voice.  
  
Just then, the tall and striking young doctor walks in, following the fluttering bird closely. A slight flicker of electricity passes between Terazuma and Tsuzuki when their eyes meet, and considering the not-so-friendly terms they last left each other on, it isn't that surprising.  
  
GuShoShin takes this tension as a signal to leave, mumbling something about throwing together a tray of tea and pastries for later.  
  
The two men continue to eye each other for a moment, before Terazuma finally breaks from their shared glare. "Excuse my poor manners. Ohaiyo gozaimasu, Wakaba-san. Tsuzuki-san. It's been a long time, ne?"  
  
"Not long enough." Tsuzuki grumbles.  
  
"Don't tell me you're going to start in on each other already." Wakaba laments, rolling her head back against the pillow. "You were teenagers back in school, and very foolish for not learning to see one other's good sides. Now, behave yourselves, or I will throw both of you out right now."  
  
The mutual dislike for one another between these two began the moment they first met, but for Wakaba's sake, and maybe even their own, they will consent to get along.  
  
Well, at least they'll try.  
  
"Thank you for coming, Terazuma." Tsuzuki mends, smiling as genuinely as he can. "Wakaba commends you for your skills as a doctor."  
  
"More for minds than bodies." Terazuma explains, offering a similar expression of forced acceptance. "But I'll do what I can. How is she?"  
  
"Weak. And very pale. Please...if you can...help her."  
  
As Terazuma steps around to the other side of the bed, Wakaba accepts his approach with a warm smile of her own, despite her obvious fatigue. Quite professionally, he checks her pulse and the sides of her neck, wearing an expression of pure seriousness, and doing his best to avoid her unique gaze, a gaze that makes him weak in the knees at the slightest look.  
  
Wakaba is truly like no other.  
  
"When did this begin?" Terazuma questions.  
  
"The storm last night." Wakaba explains, watching him carefully as he checks her eyes and ears. "I was having bad dreams, but they're very vague to me now."  
  
"Can you tell me about them?" Terazuma presses, kneeling down beside the bed and revealing his stethoscope to listen to her heart.  
  
Still in his chair across the bed from the good doctor, Tsuzuki eyes their exchange worriedly, filled with fear for Wakaba's sake and all she is going through.  
  
Nightmares are not to be feared, for they are nothing but dreams and have no power over us unless we let them. However, Tsuzuki has the oddest feeling that whatever is happening goes beyond mere dreams.  
  
"There was...howling." Wakaba begins, distancing her gaze as she remembers. "A dog howling...or a wolf..."  
  
"A dog...or a wolf...?" Terazuma repeats, barely audible, and very disturbed by that description.  
  
"I felt as though I were floating, surrounded by that howl, and there was this strange singing that echoed through the wind..."  
  
"Go on."  
  
"And then...there was something very sweet and very bitter all at ounce that overtook everything I was hearing...and I felt it all pass away...as if my soul went out of my body and drifted out into the air. And then..." she trails off a moment, allowing Terazuma to move her head to the side as he finishes his examination. There, on the right side of her neck, the side that had been furthest from him, he finds a mark low on her throat. "...and then...Tsuzuki woke me, and told me I'd been dreaming."  
  
Removing his hand, Terazuma sits back in the chair opposite Tsuzuki's and continues to stare at Wakaba for a long time.  
  
There is something that clearly disturbs him concerning what he has found, and both others in the room effortlessly pick up on the doctor's unease.  
  
"Nan desu, ka, Terazuma?" Tsuzuki inquires firmly, never one to favor silences.  
  
"There is a mark on your neck." he hesitantly explains to the bedridden, young woman, barely registering anymore that Tsuzuki is still with them.  
  
"A mark...?" she repeats.  
  
"A red mark. As though...as though you'd been kissed there." Terazuma's voice comes out sounding obviously hurt, and he pauses before asking his next question, now with a hint of jealousy. "Have you been?"  
  
Tenderly, Wakaba reaches out, only able to reach her fingertips to his cheek as she answers. "No, Hajime-chan. I swear."  
  
For a moment, he seems inclined not to believe her, but that gentle touch, the compassion and sweet emotion in her eyes, melts his stern demeanor all too easily.   
  
Terazuma nods, taking her hand from his face to hold it in his own. They share a moment then, Tsuzuki so long forgotten even he has a hard time believing that he is actually there with them instead of watching from the outside in.  
  
At last, the spell is broken, and Terazuma stands, gathering his things. "I don't know what to tell you, Wakaba-san. You are indeed pale and appear quite weak, just as Tsuzuki said, but other than that strange mark, I can't imagine why. I'll come back later with supplies to test your blood, in case something may be found there, but I'm sure it is only a mild fever and affliction. Nothing to worry over. Just get some rest, and I'm sure you'll feel much better."  
  
Smiling in gratitude, Wakaba snuggles back into the bed, longing for that suggested sleep more than she ever thought she could.  
  
Terazuma moves to the door then, intent on leaving as quietly as possible, when GuShoShin suddenly flutters in past him, carrying very urgent news. "Tsuzuki-san! A letter has arrived for you."  
  
"Honto ni?" Tsuzuki beams, instantly getting to his feet, and struggling to keep his voice down for the sake of his exhausted friend. "Where is it postmarked from?"  
  
"From a hospital in Budapest."  
  
"Budapest? I'll be right there."  
  
GuShoShin gives another flutter of wings and is soon gone, off to wait for Tsuzuki to follow after him. Rushing past Terazuma, who had stopped to hear what the bird might say, Tsuzuki stops before going through the door, and turns to him with genuine appreciation.  
  
"Arigato, Terazuma-sensei. Wakaba looks better just by having you here."  
  
If Tsuzuki wasn't certain it was impossible, he would have sworn the doctor blushed at his comment. "Yes, well...keep a watchful eye on her." Terazuma instructs. "Make sure she stays in bed for as long as possible, and don't let her leave this room unless it is absolutely necessary."  
  
"I won't. I promise."  
  
"Good. And...if I may say so...you seem to be just as Wakaba described. Not nearly as...foolhardy and immature as I remember."  
  
Tsuzuki grins, allowing this twisted praise to be taken as pure compliment, and nothing more. "Same to you. I didn't feel like clocking you even once." The pair chuckle lightly, on the verge of enjoying each others company, and move once again for the door.  
  
"Early today..." Terazuma begins, after both of them had given Wakaba's already sleeping form a parting glance. "...I had the pleasure of meeting your friend, Kurosaki-san. He seems to be a fine man."  
  
Stopping dead in his tracks, Tsuzuki soon falls behind as Terazuma continues down the hallway. Noticing this, the doctor turns back, not understanding the deeply troubled look that has overcome the young man's features.  
  
"Nan desu, ka?"  
  
"That's...impossible." Tsuzuki breathes, practically shaking he is so stricken. "Hisoka is...out of the country. Till just now, I haven't heard a word from him in weeks. Why would you say something like that?!"  
  
Angrily, Tsuzuki runs past the astonished young doctor, flying down the hallway into a far off room, and slams the door behind him.   
  
For a long time, Terazuma stands stunned, unable to comprehend what he possibly could have said to cause such a reaction. He had only spoken the truth, so far as he knew it. How could anyone get so upset over the truth?  
  
*****  
  
The day passed with little incident from that point, for after all, how much can evil do with the sun still looming above? It is now night once again, just after sunset, and the young houseboy for Wakaba's home has gone down to the front door to lock up for the evening.  
  
He isn't the most memorable character - a young boy, standing rather short, with dark hair and bright green eyes - although a few have commented that he bears a striking resemblance to the businessman Kurosaki Hisoka.  
  
"Oh!" he cries, caught off guard by a shadowy figure just off the stoop as he steps outside to give the grounds a once over. "Sumimasen. May I help you?"  
  
The shadows shift, and a man appears, dressed all in black with his cloak drawn up high to cover his face. "Why yes, I believe you can...Hijiri." he speaks, his voice so smooth and melodic in its deep tambour, the boy almost forgets to reply.  
  
"How...how do you know my name...?" he breathes at last, entranced completely by this incredible stranger.  
  
"Say it." the tall figure commands, slowly climbing the steps of the stoop.  
  
"Nani...?"  
  
"This is the home of Wakaba-san, ne? This is where she lives?"  
  
"Hai, it is." Hijiri answers hesitantly, unconsciously backing up against the closed door as the man approaches him. He comes so close, Hijiri can feel an almost inhuman chill emanating from the man's body. "What do you want -"  
  
"You're a very beautiful boy." he breaks in, with a certain seductive tone entering his voice. "Do you know that?"  
  
Hijiri shudders, forming completely against the door now as an ice-cold hand reaches up and strokes his youthful cheek.  
  
"Now...please..." the stranger whispers, bending in close enough to nearly brush his lips against the boy's skin. "...say it..."  
  
Utterly petrified in place, Hijiri looks up into the man's eyes, finally able to see them now that they are so close. The moment he does, however, he is sucked right in, trapped within those haunting, silver irises, glowing unnaturally in the darkness.  
  
Hijiri is in a trance, unable to do anything but what he is told to do.  
  
"You. May. Enter." the boy consents mechanically, and upon saying the words, the trance fades away, and Hijiri is merely captivated by the man in front of him.  
  
Grandly, this fascinating stranger steps back and tosses his long cloak over his shoulder, revealing for the first time his flawlessly beautiful face. He is youthful and vibrant, sensual and charismatic. His skin is as white as the moon above, his hair a shimmering silver to match his eyes, and the smile he grants the young boy before him is nothing short of dazzling.  
  
Completely drawn in by this image, Hijiri leaves the safety of the door, and haphazardly leaps into the man's arms, clutching at his chest as if he cannot possibly imagine such a perfect vision ever leaving his sight.  
  
"Please, Master, let me stay with you!" he pleads, filled with unimaginable passion.  
  
"Dear boy..." the stranger laughs, holding Hijiri tight. "...you are not the one I am after. However, I am sure I can think of *some* use for you..."  
  
The scream that nearly shatters the night is instantly silenced before it can begin, and the true villain of this story has arrived. He is not only on the shore now, he is at the door, and he now has permission to step inside.  
  
*****A/N*****  
  
Late update. Sorry. But I hope you like. Prepair to see Dracula...I mean...Muraki...in action soon! And...PLEASE REVIEW! 


	5. The Night Revealed

*****5:The Night Revealed*****  
  
Far from home, Tsuzuki Asato has arrived in Budapest, where a group of kindly nuns have been taking care of his partner, Kurosaki Hisoka, since discovering him at their door. They have put him up in a simple room above their monastery, and as Tsuzuki enters it, he sees that there is only a bed and a single chair for furnishings.  
  
Such meager accommodations are all Hisoka requires, however, for the state he is in is nothing like the man he once was.  
  
Seated in that small chair, the disturbed, young Kurosaki-kun is wearing crisp, white robes, has his head bandaged in white wrapping, and stares forward at nothing, as if in a horrific daze. The sight of him breaks Tsuzuki's overflowing heart, and the brunette rushes to his friend's side, dropping his bags as he attempts an embrace.  
  
"Hisoka...?" Tsuzuki whispers, near tears and pure panic in how the blonde has yet to acknowledge him, even after he had clung to Hisoka's waist. "I came as soon as I could. They say you're in shock, that you've been through something so horrible you...can't even face it long enough to tell anyone what happened."  
  
Kneeling in front of Hisoka now, Tsuzuki takes his friend's hands in his own, hoping to reach him through that meager touch, but the younger man merely continues staring.  
  
"Hisoka...please, look at me." Tsuzuki sobs, no longer able to hide his tears. "Your eyes...they're so dead...as if...there's no life left in you at all. Please...tell me...what happened to you?"  
  
When Hisoka once again fails to offer anything in response, Tsuzuki collapses into his tears, unable to hold his head up as it sinks into Hisoka's lap. As if this heartbreaking truth wasn't already enough to wake the dead, Hisoka actually stirs, lifting a hand to place atop Tsuzuki's head.  
  
Tsuzuki jerks upwards, that comforting hand falling away as he sits back up. It wasn't just his imagination though; Hisoka had indeed moved. Perhaps there is still life in the young man, after all.  
  
"They say you're well enough to travel." Tsuzuki smiles weakly, vainly trying to catch his partner's distant gaze. "And they gave me what they found of your things. There isn't much, but they did find your journal."  
  
Opening the bag beside him, Tsuzuki's attention is drawn away a moment, forcing him to miss Hisoka's next movement. The blonde turns his head, and stares hard at the book Tsuzuki has removed from the bag. Green eyes widen in horror when his all too curious friend moves to open the cover.  
  
"I don't know what to expect, but -"  
  
Slam. Tsuzuki is cut off as Hisoka's hand covers his own and shuts the journal forcefully.  
  
"Hisoka...?"  
  
"Tsuzuki..." the young blonde begins, in an urgent but somber voice, even more dreary than that of the stern man he once was. "As friends, we have sworn to have no secrets between us, but...the madness I have been driven to has offered me one gift: the loss of memory. I can't remember anything of what happened to bring me here, but whatever dark secrets there are to learn, they are hidden in this journal. Take it. Keep it. Read it if you must. But never let me know. May this be the only secret between us as friends, but swear you will keep it."  
  
The sound of Hisoka's voice had promised so much hope at first, but the fear and horror Tsuzuki now realizes his friend went through are enough to leave hope out in the cold.  
  
Grimly, Tsuzuki takes the journal and places it back inside his bag. Once it is safely tucked away, he reaches up to take hold of Hisoka's hands again, holding that emerald gaze deeply with his own.  
  
"To save you from having to relive what you went through...I promise to do what you've asked. I swear...on everything I hold dear."   
  
Tsuzuki takes in a suffering breath, struggling to hold a smile as he stands, and gently lifts his friend out of that decrepit chair.   
  
"Now...let's go home."  
  
----------  
  
Back at the home Tsuzuki so recently left, it is once again night, with a full moon shining impossibly red in the sky. Wakaba is asleep in her bed, restlessly tossing and turning, unable to find peaceful slumber in the midst of her strange ailment.  
  
Ding. Ding. Ding. The clock chimes, continuing its melody until it has rung 12 times. Midnight. The time when all of God's madmen come out to play and turn the most righteous of men into creatures like themselves.  
  
A wolf howls, not in the distance, but eerily close by, causing Wakaba to stir within her fitful sleep. It howls again, and she rises, not sleepwalking as she had a few nights before, but fully awake, and disturbed by the closeness of that animal's cry.  
  
The window has been left partially open, though Wakaba is certain it had been closed when she first went to bed. Throwing back the sheets, she gets up and tip-toes over to it, quickly latching it closed once reaching it through the shadows. The curtains have also been pulled open, and she tugs at one end, drawing it back into place. When she reaches for the other side, however, she discovers that it is not what it appears to be.  
  
"Kombanwa, Wakaba-chan." booms a liquid smooth voice from within the folds of dark cloth, and suddenly, Wakaba is spun, wrapped within what had appeared to be the other half of her curtain, but what is instead...a black cape.  
  
Wakaba screams, struggling to free herself from this tall stranger's hold, but his arms are like iron, holding her in place as if she is nothing but a doll.  
  
"Do not be frightened." he whispers into her ear. "Though you remember nothing, we have met already."  
  
"TASUKETE!" Wakaba cries, ignoring his words of comfort. "GUSHOSHIN!"  
  
"Your servant is indisposed at the moment. As are all of them, I'm afraid."  
  
"TASUKETE, TSUZUKI!!"  
  
"And your delicious friend is still away." he laughs softly, shattering all her hopes for being rescued. "We are alone, sweet Wakaba-chan. All alone..."  
  
Suddenly, those vice-like arms release, and Wakaba breaks free, rushing instantly for the door. It is locked, laughing in her face as he had laughed, and proving that she is indeed a prisoner. Wakaba spins back around, but the dark stranger has yet to move.  
  
"Your Terazuma-sensei has examined your blood and found it to be rich and healthy." he explains, slowly stepping away from the window to be bathed in the light of the moon. He is dressed all in black, but his skin is silky white, and his hair is like threads of spun silver. Even his eyes are like gems, glinting in the eerie light. "I am happy to say...I share your friend's diagnosis." He grins, licking his lips, and keeps his distance as Wakaba stands rigid, nervously reaching a hand up to her neck - the mark on her neck - as if it burns at the sight of him.  
  
"What are you...?" she breathes, fighting back sobs under her breath. "What do you want from me...?"  
  
The man stands taller, almost seeming to grow another inch through sheer will, and reaches out, freezing her in place with his gaze. "I want your fear." he speaks, his voice like a hiss in the wind. "Your fear, like a current, rushes through your body. Your fear makes your heart pound, your veins ripe and full. Your fear hemorrhages deliciously within you."  
  
Swaying as if caught in a breeze, Wakaba is transfixed by his voice, lost in those haunting eyes, and though her fear remains, she no longer has control enough to listen to it.  
  
"Come to me...Wakaba...and do what you know I desire..." His words flow like a river, truly hypnotic and impossible for her to resist.  
  
Wakaba glides over the floor towards his outstretched hand and pulls her long, blonde hair back, exposing her neck as if to offer it up to his hungry, waiting lips.  
  
The stranger smiles, lowering his mouth to that lovely neck very slowly, as if only to give her a quiet kiss. His lips curl back, however, revealing glistening, white fangs, and he bites into the tender flesh - amazingly gentle - causing her whole body to tense and shiver.  
  
"This is nothing but a dream, Wakaba-chan." he instructs, licking traces of blood from his teeth once he has pulled back, and staring deep into her faded eyes. "You've been sleepwalking again. Poor thing. But do not worry, dear Tsuzuki will keep your secret. When you awake, you will remember nothing but the cry of the wolf...and the crash of the sea..."  
  
He allows his voice to trail off, gazing at the trickle of blood from her reopened wound achingly. Then...in one ravenous motion...he hurls his head down, sinking deep into her throat. Wakaba screams, but all who could help are either too far away, or unable to do anything to save her.  
  
----------  
  
"I AM HERE, MASTER! I AM HERE TO DO YOUR BIDDING!" Watari screams, tugging wildly at his bindings.  
  
The madman is now chained by his wrists as well as his ankles, and can only pull an inch or two away from the wall. After his unsuccessful attack on the good doctor, he was immediately tethered more tightly, for fear of the same - or worse - happening again.  
  
Rushing into the cell, Terazuma skids to a fearful halt before getting too close, and casts a few quick glances over the cell, wondering what possibly could have set the lunatic off.  
  
"What is it this time, Watari-san?"  
  
"I PRAY YOU, MASTER, DO NOT PASS ME BY!" the blonde bellows at the ceiling, as if Terazuma doesn't even exist.  
  
"Who are you talking to?!"  
  
"WHEN YOU DELIVER YOUR GIFTS OF ETERNITY, PLEASE DO NOT PASS ME BY!!" he calls again, and then, in an instant, turns cheerfully to Terazuma, as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened at all. "You're up late."  
  
"Nani...?" the frazzled doctor mumbles back, shaking off his obvious fatigue by running an unsteady hand through dark strands of hair. "Hai, I am, but...I...well...just listen to me a moment -"  
  
"Even though she has yet to accept your hand, you keep a watchful vigil, aching to knock on her door."  
  
"I am doing no such -"  
  
"But we can wait, ne, Hajime-chan? Clever men that we are. We can wait for our sweet riches to fill our cups." Filled with sudden rage, he looks up to the ceiling once more and screams loudly, piercing his voice throughout the night. "DO NOT FORGET ME!" and just as quickly, conveying an uncannily lucid calm, he turns back to Terazuma. "We are the same, Hajime-chan. We both hold a common longing. You await the comfort of her bed, as I await my Master's gifts."  
  
This admission ripples over Terazuma's skin, tying his tongue - and his stomach - in knots. "How dare you speak like that to me!" he cries, once he has regained his composure. "You twist and deceive, but still you are nothing but a freak! Do you hear me?! I will solve you, Watari-san. I *will* unlock your secrets. Now, I demand to know: Who is your Master!?!"  
  
Erupting like an overflowing brook that trickles down the riverbed, Watari giggles happily, sliding down the wall until landing in a heap of chains and ragged clothing. "We are men...at the mercy of angels!" he laughs  
  
"Answer me, Watari!"  
  
"Terazuma-sensei!" GuShoShin suddenly calls from just outside the door, sounding very upset and rushed towards his impending message.  
  
"Not now." Terazuma bites back, keeping his eyes on the infuriating blonde, who is now doubled over in his continued laughter.  
  
"Demo...it's Wakaba-san, sensei. She's -"  
  
But before GuShoShin can finish, Terazuma is already out the door and past him, rushing down the hallway to escape the building and reach his beloved's home.  
  
Peeking inside the room, the fluttering bird catches sight of Watari still crouched on the ground, and shivers as he reaches in to close the door.  
  
Watari smirks, and just before being once again locked away from all the world, he calls out happily, still with hints of laughter in his voice. "The unexpected always happens."  
  
*****A/N*****  
  
Fun, fun, fun! Next comes Professor Abraham Van Helsing (the part I played in high school, only as girl, since I am one, so I was Abigail Van Helsing) who is the owe so yummy TATSUMI-SAN! PLEASE REVIEW!! And thanks for the support so far. 


	6. What No One Can Admit

*****6: What No One Can Admit*****  
  
Standing just outside Kannuki Wakaba's bedroom door, Professor Tatsumi Seiichirou is giving the letter that has summoned him here one last look, with a rather wry smile brightening his handsome features.  
  
/Tatsumi-sensei. You are my dear friend and master, and know more about obscure diseases than anyone in the world. You are a philosopher and metaphysician, and the most advanced scientist of your day. You have an absolutely open mind, an iron nerve, a temper of ice, an unyielding determination, and the most compassionate heart that beats. I beg you, with full humility, to come to the aid of my dear, sweet Wakaba-chan./  
  
Laughing ever so lightly at the shameless flattery of this letter, Tatsumi muses on the possibilities presented before him. His own reputation aside, he would very much love to meet the young woman who has captured his former student's heart. It is Terazuma's post-script, however, that has brought him so many miles from home, and on such a desperate errand.  
  
/P.S. Do remember that I once saved your life./  
  
Tatsumi enters the lavish bedroom, sweeping inside with grand authority, and wasting no time as he goes directly to Wakaba's side. Terazuma's dark features brighten instantly at the sight of his most cherished teacher, feeling the weight that has been hanging so low on his shoulders lift ever so slightly as he is offered this first sign of hope.  
  
"It's as though she is fading away." he explains from his seat beside the bed, still grasping Wakaba's hand tenderly between his own. "Every day she becomes more pale, gasping for air."  
  
"Wakaba-chan, can you hear me?" Tatsumi whispers softly beside the young woman's ear, crouching down on the opposite side from Terazuma. Wakaba stirs and opens her eyes, but appears dim, as if she is still dreaming. "I am Tatsumi Seiichirou. I have come from Osaka at Terazuma-sensei's request, and would like to ask you a question or two, if I may. Would that be alright?" Wakaba nods, blinking past her heavy fatigue. "Good. Now, have you had a fall lately? Or...a fright of some kind? Anything out of the ordinary?"  
  
Achingly, Wakaba attempts to sit up. "Only...the dreams." she breathes, straining her neck as she lifts it from her pillow.  
  
"Tell me."  
  
"I tried...not to sleep...I tried so hard...not to fall asleep -"  
  
"Why, Wakaba?" Terazuma presses, beside himself with worry, and not comforted nearly enough by his old friend's presence.  
  
"What do you remember of these dreams?" Tatsumi asks in a measured voice that has been trained to know patience. He is focused completely on the young woman in front of him, leaving Terazuma's worry and desperate questions far behind.  
  
"A wolf. The cry of a wolf. And...the sound of the sea outside my window." Wakaba recounts, just as she is meant to.  
  
Already, Tatsumi appears deeply troubled by this reply. "Anything else?" he presses, hoping there is more. Even the smallest glimmer of something more would be better than the answer he has been given.  
  
"Only that." Wakaba whispers, so out of breath without even exerting the smallest amount of energy. "I'm sorry."  
  
"Don't you dare be sorry, Wakaba." Terazuma instructs, squeezing her hand reassuringly. Slowly, she turns her head towards him and smiles, a very tired, very sad, little smile. "Just rest now, alright?"  
  
"Rest." Tatsumi repeats, brushing the hair out of her eyes, and helping her lay back down again. "You need to save your strength."  
  
Although the educated professor smiles warmly down at Wakaba as she slips off to sleep, it instantly vanishes when her head falls limply to one side, revealing two tiny red marks on her neck.  
  
As if jolted from within, Tatsumi springs up and rushes to Terazuma, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from the bed with powerful force.  
  
"Who has access to this room?" he asks sternly.  
  
"Just myself, the main servant, and a friend who is out of town at the moment." he explains, knowing not to beat around the bush when he has been asked such a direct and fiercely spoken question. "Why do you ask?"  
  
Tatsumi hesitates, clearly troubled, but plagued by more than just Wakaba's condition. To tell his dear student something as devastating as what he must soon explain is a hard truth to swallow. "I cannot say quite yet, but trust me and do as I say if you wish to save her. Understand?"  
  
Instantly, Terazuma nods, and allows the fervent professor to lead him back to his chair. Tatsumi then retrieves his bag that had been left near the door and begins to remove strange equipment from inside.  
  
"She wants blood, my friend, and blood she must have...or she will die." he explains quietly, rushing back to the bed once he has collected what he needs. "Roll up your sleeve. There is no time to waste."  
  
Terazuma complies, having many questions, but allows them to remain unanswered. He trusts his former instructor with his life, and with Wakaba's, and is willing to do anything and everything it will take to save her life.  
  
Watching Tatsumi's lightening fast movements, the young doctor takes notice of a long, thin tube with needles at both ends, as well as a weathered hand-pump. Although the instruments are foreign to him, he recognizes what they must be for.  
  
A small prick pinches Terazuma's arm as his mentor inserts one of the needles into a particularly ripe vein, and then connects the tube to Wakaba. In almost no time at all, clear white becomes blood red as the young doctor's life-force is offered up to his beloved.  
  
"Sensei..." Terazuma begins, flinching slightly at the discomfort each squeeze of the hand-pump causes him. "...you seem to have a theory as to what is causing all this. Please...tell me. A dream could not produce such weakness. Wakaba didn't even stir when you pricked her skin. What does this all mean? The marks? The dreams? Blood...?"  
  
"Wakaba?! What's happened to her?!" bellows a sudden voice, before Tatsumi has the chance to answer. Tsuzuki is standing in the doorway, but he remains there only a moment before diving for the bed and grasping Wakaba's limp hand. "She's not...she isn't -"  
  
"She'll be fine, Tsuzuki." Terazuma assures, wincing as Tatsumi removes the needle and begins packing up the equipment. "Tatsumi-sensei has just finished a minor blood transfusion. Sensei, this is Wakaba's dear friend, Tsuzuki Asato."  
  
Kindly, Tsuzuki smiles and stands, having happily accepted Terazuma's words of comfort, and extends a grateful hand in introduction. "Konnichiwa, Tatsumi-sensei. Thank you for coming."  
  
"It is an honor, Tsuzuki-san." Tatsumi complies, offering a firm handshake and a small, courteous bow. "We've done all we can for Wakaba at present, but I am afraid the cause is still a mystery."  
  
Tatsumi tosses a stern look to his pupil, a look that goes unnoticed by Tsuzuki, but the hidden message states that only the two doctors are to know the truth until all the facts are known. Terazuma will just have to wait to hear Tatsumi's speculations, and upon hearing them, he must keep them quiet until they can be certain.  
  
Who wants to invoke panic if there turns out to be nothing to panic about?  
  
"Tsuzuki...you've just returned from Budapest?" Terazuma inquires, ushering the men out of the room so that Wakaba can rest in peace.  
  
"Hai, just now." Tsuzuki replies, walking at a leisurely pace along with the two doctors as they make their way into the spacious living room.  
  
"And Kurosaki-san, how is he?"  
  
"Much better. He seems so much more like himself now that we've come home. I think all he really needed was to return to Japan. It has proven to be the best medicine."  
  
Just then, as the three men sit themselves down in various chairs in the living room, Hisoka enters from the atrium, walking mechanically into the room with a somewhat vacant expression.  
  
"Ah, here he is." Tsuzuki smiles. "Hisoka, this is Terazuma and Tatsumi-sensei. They've been looking after Wakaba, and...they...eh? Hisoka...?"  
  
  
  
Although the men had stood to greet Hisoka upon entering, Hisoka has turned away from them, and is walking slowly towards the middle of the room. There is an eerie light shining in the young man's face, and he speaks with an odd, detatched terror, as if he were about to go mad. "It was him...the man himself." he breathes.  
  
Pointedly, Tatsumi shoots another look to his former pupil, though Terazuma does not yet comprehend its meaning.  
  
"Just now...on the street...I saw him with my own eyes! Dear God, help me, it is my nightmares brought to life!"  
  
Rightfully distraut, Tsuzuki rushes to Hisoka's side, desperate to touch him, but afraid to bend what little sanity his partner seems to have left. "Hisoka, what are you talking a -"  
  
"But he has changed. The faded eyes, the weak and sickly form are gone. I thought I was imagining it, but there can be no mistake. It was him. Forgive me...if only I had known..."  
  
"Enough!" Tsuzuki cries, hating that he must see his dear friend so broken once again when he has so recently been put back together. "It's over. You're home and safe and -"  
  
Tsuzuki's words are cut short, for he gasps, taken aback as Hisoka retrieves a dagger from inside his cloak.   
  
Terazuma and Tatsumi have long since swarmed closer, and visibly tense at such a frightful sight, taking poise in case there should be cause to act quickly.  
  
"I don't know what I would have done if I had had a knife with me then..." Hisoka ponders, so stricken and reverted back to the man he had become before Tsuzuki found him. "It would have been bliss to find release in the blade..."  
  
"Hisoka, no!!" Tsuzuki screams, tears building in his amethyst eyes. The others hover close, ready to lunge forward at a moment's notice. Tsuzuki, however, can barely keep himself standing. "Please, Hisoka...put the knife away. You can't mean to do this..."  
  
"I have set him loose on Japan! On the world! An ever-widening circle of death is on our doorstep because of me!!" Hisoka falls to his knees, holding the knife to his chest. All three men stand alert, afraid to make a false, and possibly fatal move. "I could have stopped him, but I was too weak! OH, GOD, FORGIVE ME!!!"  
  
The knife plunges down, but it does not make contact with Hisoka's tender skin. Tsuzuki has latched onto his partner's waist, and the two doctors are holding back his arms, having to use all their strength to keep the dagger from finding its sheath.  
  
Dragged from the room, Hisoka kicks and screams, leaving the knife to fall to the floor, and Tsuzuki to stumble behind. Soon, the men are gone, only Tsuzuki remaining, and he succumbs to bitter tears, wrapping his knees in close to his chest as he huddles on the floor.  
  
Just to his right, his and Hisoka's bags have been set aside by the maid. Raising his head, Tsuzuki finds instant fascination with his own bag, and reaches over to remove something from inside. What he retrieves is a simple, leather-bound book.   
  
Hisoka's journal.  
  
Settling in cross-legged, right there on the floor, Tsuzuki wipes at his stubborn eyes, staring hard at the closed book. He is still staring, still sitting frozen and frazzled on the floor, when Tatsumi enters.  
  
"He's calmed now. I had to give him a sedative, but I think it would be best if..." Tatsumi trails off, taking notice of the younger brunette's silence and demeanor. Tsuzuki hasn't acknowledged him. "Tsuzuki-san?"  
  
Quietly, with uncharacteristic resolve, Tsuzuki answers. "He seemed so much better. And now...it's as if he never recovered. He doesn't even know..."  
  
"Know what, Tsuzuki-san?" Tatsumi inquires, crouching down beside Tsuzuki on the floor.  
  
For obvious reasons, Tsuzuki's thoughts are not completely clear, and he hadn't realized he was speaking so openly. "Nothing." he replies quickly. "Forget I said anything."  
  
The smallest smirk creeps into the doctor's expression, and he sits down completely, crossing his legs to match Tsuzuki as he joins him on the rug. "Ah...I see. You haven't told him...that you have feelings for him."  
  
Tsuzuki jumps, spinning around to stare wide-eyed back at the handsome doctor. "How did you...I mean...that's ridiculous! What would make you think that?"  
  
"You don't have to hide your feelings from me, Tsuzuki-san. Actually...I have the same tendency."  
  
Tsuzuki's jaw drops full to the floor. "You mean...you like..."  
  
"Men? Well, currently I am uninvolved, but...yes, quite exclusively."  
  
At first, Tsuzuki can't help blushing as the doctor's words sink in, but eventually he realizes just how comforting the thought really is. "Arigato...Tatsumi-sensei, for being so honest with me. I guess I'm still a little in denial. I don't know how Hisoka feels, and...I'm afraid he'll...be disgusted with me. I have to tell him, no matter how wrong I am, but how can I if he isn't the Hisoka I know? I just don't know what to do."  
  
Tatsumi mulls over Tsuzuki's confession, watching the violet-eyed young man very closely, as if assessing his words and disposition, and finding them at fault. "First of all, never believe loving someone is something anyone has the right to be disgusted by. Second, never think yourself wrong for succumbing to that love. And third, have faith in Kurosaki-kun's ability to fight what is happening to him. Tell him. Tell him you love him. There is no better medicine than companionship, and even if he does not return your feelings, if he is truly your friend, he will not turn you away."  
  
No words could possibly fit better for what Tsuzuki needed to hear just then, and the young brunette almost smiles, relieved miraculously by what the doctor has shared and expressed.   
  
A smile cannot come so easily, however. Not when the darkness outside continues to creep steadily over the grounds, casting ominous shadows upon each fissure and crack, as if the abyss itself has substance - as if the darkness could reach out with tangible fingers and crush the life out of anyone who dared cross its path.  
  
"Whatever his answer, he still hasn't overcome what happened to him. We don't even know what it was, let alone how to free him from it. I'm so afraid...afraid we won't learn the truth until it's too late. Knowledge is useless to the dead."  
  
Nearly forgetting his manners, Tatsumi practically smirks at the idea. "Not so, Tsuzuki-san. It is, in fact, on account of the dead that I have come."  
  
Silence. That rather queer thought quivers through Tsuzuki like a coarse wind, coming out through the other side only to leave him with the smallest traces of discomfort and cold, without ever truly understanding why it lingers.  
  
At a slight loss for how to reply, Tsuzuki instead lifts the journal, gesturing for the doctor to take notice of it, and forcing himself to betray a treasured trust.  
  
"I'm almost certain the clues we're after are in this book." he explains, toying with the weathered cover. "Hisoka made me promise not to read it, and that if I have to, I can never tell him what I find. But even fearing the worst, I have to know if I hope to save him from this."  
  
Looking painstakingly into Tatsumi's clear, blue eyes, as if the mere thought burns his fragile heart, Tsuzuki finds the resolve he needs to continue.  
  
"Will you help me, Tatsumi?"  
  
With a kind smile and nod of acceptance to Tsuzuki's difficult proposal, Tatsumi settles in closer to the young man beside him. Slowly, Tsuzuki opens the journal, and in moments the darkness outside seeps its way in, throwing all the world into chaos.  
  
*****A/N*****  
  
Long time no write, huh? So Sorry. I was in Europe for three weeks, and then I had to move into my dorm, and everything was crazy. However, I fully intend to finish this. Hope you like. Next is showing what happened between Hisoka and...well, who do you think it was? *evil snicker* Love you! 


	7. A Nightmare Brought to Life

7: A Nightmare Brought to Life  
  
A low thunder whispers over the horizon, echoing as if to toss back and forth some impossible conversation, where it finally catches it, crushing it amidst a stroke of lightening. Within an ancient castle far from the familiar shores of Japan, the small storm lingers, but somehow avoids the large stones that form upon such a desolate hill. It seems the storm revolves around a darkness it can never quite grasp.  
  
"Welcome to my home." invites a low, charming voice, despite the strain behind it. "Enter freely and go safely, leaving something of the happiness you bring."  
  
This is recorded memory, remember, not the here and now, but as if the very man stood upon those very castle steps, Kurosaki Hisoka appears through the doorway, slipping inside just barely enough to escape the falling drops of rain. "Muraki-sama?"  
  
"Hai, I am Muraki Kazutaka." the figure who bid Hisoka enter replies.   
  
He is a frail man. Tall and well-built, at least in a way that suggests he was once quite powerful, though he appears weakened now, as if by some unknown, unnatural force. Silver hair falls wildly past his shoulders, while a single, silver eye peers out at the world with a dull sheen of faded life. The other remains hidden completely, veiled by strands of spun silk. He would be handsome had he some vitality left. He is handsome. He would be beautiful. Breathtaking.  
  
"Come in, Boya. The night air is so cold. I'm sure you are in need of food and rest. Please..." Muraki gestures onward into the castle, before beginning to head that direction himself.  
  
Complying, Hisoka picks up his bags and enters fully, studying the castle's interior as he walks. Just as he is about to put his bags down again in order to turn back and shut the large, metal door behind him, it suddenly slams shut, causing him to jump nearly three feet forward. Turning back, there are no signs of anyone else there; the wind must have forced it closed.  
  
The wind forced a metal door closed? Well, whatever helps you keep your delusions, I suppose.  
  
Following Muraki up a winding staircase, deeper into the haunting depths of the castle, Hisoka eyes his surrounding with persistent hesitance. Silently, he scolds himself for being so childish. After all, how rude would it be for him to show fear and unease in front of his client?  
  
"I have brought the information you requested regarding the properties in Tokyo." Hisoka begins, laying out his briefcase on a table in the large dining hall he has been led to. "Also, my superiors were wondering - "  
  
A firm hand is politely laid to rest on Hisoka's shoulder. "Kurosaki-kun?"  
  
"Ha...hai?"  
  
"You have traveled far. Let your host see to your pleasure before you see to his business." Muraki grins, guiding Hisoka away from the briefcase and towards the elaborately decorated dining table.   
  
Dinner has been set up, enough for one, and a single candle illuminates the table at one end, seeing as how most of their surroundings are lit by meager lamps on the stone walls.  
  
"I do hope you're hungry." the beguiling man states with a sly smile, much like that of a cat slinking over rooftops at night.  
  
"I am, actually." Hisoka admits, allowing himself to be seated at the table, and staring down hungrily at the dishes in front of him. The spread is a lavish assortment of traditional Japanese cuisine.  
  
Muraki circles Hisoka, coming up next to him on his other side, and gestures at the prepared meal. "Please, dine as you wish. And...forgive me for not joining you, but...I have dined already."  
  
Smiling up in gratitude, Hisoka begins to eat, pouring out instant complements at the meal's authenticity and taste. As he eats, Muraki eventually joins him at the table, sitting on his left, and though Hisoka knows it is impolite to stare, he finds his eyes constantly drifting towards his companion.  
  
Though they are far from Japan - lost in the mysterious lands of Transylvania - Muraki is dressed in old-fashioned robes, reminiscent of ancient Japanese emperors. Hisoka would have found this rather peculiar had he not been informed that Muraki's ancestors aren't originally from the Transylvania region, but that they had come from the distant island he, too, calls home.  
  
"I must say, it is a comfort that you take your ancestral roots so seriously." Hisoka comments, pausing in his meal to drink from a glass of wine next to his plate. "The food, your dress, designs in this palace, and especially your recent decision to move to Tokyo. It is a fine city."  
  
Muraki releases a quiet laugh. "Fine indeed. But more importantly, it is a crowded city. I lose myself sometimes in imagining the bustling streets, peopled with the mad whirl and rush of humanity. How marvelous it must be to live amidst that banquet of life."  
  
Suddenly, in the distance, a cock crows mournfully, signaling the beginning ascent of the morning sun. Muraki starts slightly, a reaction unperceived by Hisoka as he finishes his meal.   
  
"I have lingered too long, I'm afraid." Muraki explains, rising slowly from his seat at the table. "Such endless nights call for early morning rest, and I must retire. I leave you to rest as well. You will find your room just down the hall, and are free to continue dining until you are satisfied." Then, before going off to his own bedroom, Muraki slips up closely behind Hisoka's chair, and whispers into his ear. "One thing, Boya: you may go anywhere you like in the castle, except where the doors are locked, which of course is somewhere you would not wish to go. My ways are not necessarily your ways, and you may discover many strange things. Had you my eyes and my knowledge, you would better understand, but you are young and inexperienced. Please, trust me when I warn you to be cautious."  
  
Hisoka represses a deep shiver, unsure what to make of his client's lingering presence, so close to him from behind. Before he can spend much time dwelling on it, however, the cock crows once again, and Muraki recoils, backing towards the hallway leading to his room.  
  
"Oyasuminasai, Kurosaki-kun. And...Ohaiyo." he winks, and with a flourish of his many robes, he is gone.

-----

Pages turn, again and again, expressing now a different night in Kurosaki Hisoka's experiences with the intriguing Muraki Kazutaka.  
  
Hisoka is sitting on his bed in the guest room Muraki has provided him with, diligently attempting to replace a button that has fallen off his jacket. Skilled in many domestic tasks, he is an accomplished sewer when situation calls for it, and he works swiftly, the small needle and thread slipping in and out of the fabric like the flitting of a fish darting in a stream.  
  
From outside his window, a wolf howls hauntingly in the distance, forcing a shiver of foolish fear to ripple down his small spine. Though he is facing away from the door and cannot see the figure steadily approaching him from behind, Hisoka senses the expansive presence of someone watching him, and stiffens.  
  
Muraki walks silently, his steps undetectable, and even the door refrains from making a sound as he enters Hisoka's room. Hisoka is vaguely aware of him, however, and looks closely at the mirror he has placed on his nightstand, giving him a rather broad view of the areas of the room behind him. He can see the slightly open door, the far wall, and his dresser, but he cannot - of course - see Muraki.  
  
The wolf howls once again, startling Hisoka sharply, which causes him to jump and pierce his finger with the needle he had still been holding. He sucks in a sharp breath of air through tightly clenched teeth at the sting of pain, and when he holds his bleeding finger up to the light, an oddly delicious sigh escapes from the unseen spectator behind him.  
  
"Who's there...?" Hisoka whispers, no longer believing that deceptive reflection. Rightly prompted, he begins to turn.  
  
"You needn't face me." Muraki calls softly, halting Hisoka's movements. "I don't mean to disturb you. Only...to study you. To learn the curve of your neck..."  
  
Deeply unnerved, Hisoka shudders, and sets his sewing aside. "I will be leaving in the morning. I never intended to stay a full week, and since our business is nearly finished - "  
  
"Kurosaki-kun?"  
  
"...hai?"  
  
"You've cut yourself."  
  
Hisoka looks down at his injured finger, noticing that a few drops of blood have fallen from the wound and are now staining his bedspread. "So I have..." He begins to lift his finger to his mouth, but his hand is suddenly snatched up as Muraki appears beside him and pulls it towards his lips instead.  
  
"Allow me..."  
  
Unlike the heat he would have expected from his own mouth, Hisoka finds Muraki's to be oddly chill, and the feeling of the older man's tongue darting about his finger is a far cry from any comfort level he would hope to maintain with a client.  
  
At first entranced, Hisoka now finds this act revolting, and tugs his hand away, guarding it protectively as he leans back, away from Muraki's hovering form.  
  
"Where are my things?" he asks bluntly, unable to look anywhere but at Muraki's silver eye boring hungrily back at him.  
  
Muraki merely stares, licking his moistened lips.  
  
"Answer me! All my papers are gone. Everything. My notes, letters, even the deed to the property - still unsigned."  
  
A wicked smile. "Forget the inconvenience of such small disappearances." Muraki dismisses. "Now, tell me of my new home."  
  
"I've told you already! Again and again for a whole week." Hisoka laments, scrambling off the bed and backing fearfully away. "It's an older building, shrouded in darkness."  
  
"I commend you, Boya. How I love the shade and shadow, the solitude and potent quiet of the night."  
  
"There is no quiet here." Hisoka shoots back, pressed against the wall next to his bed, unjustly terrified of Muraki's advancing figure. "Day and night I am surrounded by the sounds of digging. And the boxes - a dozen, at least. What of those?"  
  
"Pay no mind to that." Muraki smirks, and with a nearly unseen gesture into his robes, he suddenly produces the lost deed. "Please, Kurosaki-kun, finish what you started and sign the deed to my new home. It lacks only your signature."  
  
Swiftly, Muraki moves to the end table and sets the deed down, producing a pen as well, and gesturing Hisoka over to make the contract legal. Hisoka hesitates, questioning Muraki's acquisition of the deed when it had been with his other now lost possessions. Nonetheless, all he longs for is to escape the unsettling world he has found himself in, and so he moves forward, keeping a watchful eye on his companion as he takes the pen and signs the deed as he has been instructed.  
  
"You shall be greatly rewarded for your services, Boya. Trust me on that."  
  
"I want to leave."  
  
No reply.  
  
"I want to leave now."  
  
Muraki bows his head in a wicked smile, the deed once again hidden amongst his robes. "I'm afraid that is impossible."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because…I have no intention of letting you go."  
  
Hisoka's large, green eyes widen, not merely at the words Muraki has chosen, but at the hidden meaning in his tone, in his eyes, in his overpowering presence. Suddenly, Hisoka realizes he is indeed a prisoner, and there is no escaping this prison if he does not act now. In a desperate rush for the door, he leaps past Muraki, but just as he reaches it, it heavily slams shut.  
  
"I am afraid I have all I need of you, Kurosaki-kun. Your work is at an end."  
  
"No…" Hisoka breathes, clutching at the immovable door. "Let me go. You have no reason to keep me here, whatever you are. Please…"  
  
"Kurosaki Hisoka!" Muraki's deep, increasingly powerful voice erupts, spinning Hisoka to face him with the sheer force of its resonance. He raises a ghostly white hand, transfixing Hisoka as if putting him under a spell. "You belong to me now, and I am afraid I cannot allow you to leave."  
  
Slowly, against his will, Hisoka begins to move back towards the bed, grasping his head in pain. "No…I must tell them…tell them of the digging…of the boxes of earth…"  
  
"Do not worry, Boya, I shall carry your memory with me, and eagerly take your place by your partner's side."  
  
"Tsuzuki…" Hisoka whimpers, fighting with all he has left to keep himself from lying down on the bed, though Muraki's control over him is forcing him to do just that, and soon, too soon, he is lying flat on his back. "Be safe, Tsuzuki. Dear, God, do not fall to this creature as I have…"  
  
"Oh, believe me, Boya, he will do much more than fall..."  
  
A snap of Muraki's long, white fingers silences every mere hint of noise echoing throughout the room, and while he stands at the foot of the bed, two new figures appear at either side, seemingly out of the air to obey their master's command.  
  
They slither up from the ground, hovering close to where Hisoka's head lays on the pillow, appearing like fierce though beautiful apparitions. They look almost like sisters, with similar features, though one has hair cropped at her shoulders and the other's hangs down her back in two, thick braids. One's eyes glow an eerie yellow while the other's glow red, and when they smile down at him, both have canines to rival any beast his nightmares have ever imagined.   
  
Flowing cloth of white drapes their deceptively fragile bodies. They are brides--beautiful brides of Death itself.  
  
"What are you...?" Hisoka gasps, his limbs still unwilling to obey him in his hopes to escape.  
  
The vixens loom over him, leaning in close so that he can feel their lack of breath dancing across his skin.  
  
"No! Stay away from me!"  
  
Muraki's encompassing laughter fills the space of the room like fog enveloping the night. Hisoka can see him at the foot of the bed, looking somehow taller and more imposing than before. His eyes gleam, his hair seems to shimmer, and his beauty is all the more enhanced with the strengthening of his once weakened constitution.  
  
The vicious pair on either side of him begin to kiss and lick at his face and neck, their small hands caressing down his chest and undoing the buttons of his shirt. Those hands are as ravenous as their mouths, and they tease mercilessly at his flesh when his shirt falls open, not letting up despite all his cries of protest.  
  
"He's so pretty, Master." the one with longer hair coos, running her tongue along his collar bone. "Oh, please, can we taste him?"  
  
"Yes, oh please." the other agrees, lightly nipping down his torso.  
  
Muraki's voice becomes stern, though at its edges it is filled with something Hisoka longs to overlook, though he knows he cannot. "Soon, my treasures, but not yet. When I have gone, then you may do with him as you please. But for now...he belongs to me, and I shall be the first to taste him."  
  
Hisoka is shaking--every inch of him--and the expression on his young face is one of pure horror as Muraki approaches. The vixens do not back away, but merely move lower, keeping their attention on his chest and thin torso as Muraki comes up beside Hisoka's left, and grins.  
  
Fangs. Glinting menacingly in the faint moonlight from outside--which has become the shade of frozen blood--they carry with them a strange sense of sensuality along with fear. Hisoka is instantly ashamed for thinking such a thing, but he cannot deny the strange warmth beginning to swarm in his stomach, as if Muraki is commanding his body to react.  
  
"It only hurts a moment, like the prick of a pin..." the count whispers, his words flown by feathers to Hisoka's ears. He is leaning far over the younger man now, his too beautiful face only inches from Hisoka's. "Then...it becomes something so...pleasurable...you will be begging for me to take you..."  
  
"Don't...please..." Hisoka pleads.   
  
But, after all, the Devil is only interested in mercy if he can benefit more from the sacrifice than from taking what he wants. This time...he would much rather be taking.  
  
Muraki's lips curls back into a haunting smile, showing off those sharp fangs all the more, and soon his face disappears from Hisoka's view as he leans in towards the blonde's gently curving throat.  
  
A pin prick--Muraki had not lied--and in the moments that follow, Hisoka becomes devastatingly aware of how true Muraki's other words had been.  
  
Every nerve in Hisoka's body springs to life, kindled anew, and he gasps aloud--a pitiful cry--his limbs no longer frozen by Muraki's spell but by the thrilling rush of sensation running through his body. To say it is pleasurable does not do it justice. His body is reacting on every level, and he can faintly hear the vixens hissing and giggling at the tension it his wrought upon his extremities.   
  
On one hand, he can feel a part of his life slipping away between Muraki's lips. But on the other, he is filled, enraptured by sensuality like nothing humanity could ever know.  
  
Muraki begins to pull away, but Hisoka's hands spring up, gripping the man's shoulders to hold him in place.  
  
"...ah...don't...uhh...please...don't stop..."  
  
Light dances across Muraki's exposed and bloody fangs. "It is your partner I want most, dear boy. But...if you insist on asking for destruction, I will grant it to you, as payment for what you have done for me." Muraki shifts, eyes suddenly blazing as he strokes Hisoka's cheek too tenderly. "Now...my dear, little doll...I want to hear you scream..."  
  
A part of Hisoka's mind jolts back to reality, and he realizes what he is about to be subjected to. The thing is, he has asked for it, and there is nothing he can do to escape from the fate he has chosen.  
  
He hates himself. He hates the world and all its conventions.

Soon, he begins to feel his clothes stripped away by the vixens' attentive hands, while Muraki's tongue leisurely laps at the wound on his neck. The combination of sensations, as well as visions of what is to come, carry his mind to thoughts of his partner--a man he has now inadvertently condemned.  
  
"Tsuzuki...forgive me..."  
  
Muraki laughs again, his voice vibrating against Hisoka's neck, and he pulls back just enough, before plummeting down, sinking his teeth viciously into that same flesh once more.  
  
"AHHHH!"

-----

"No!! Hisoka!" Tsuzuki cries, slamming the journal shut and tossing it across the room in horror. "No....how...how could this have happened...?"  
  
"Calm down, Tsuzuki-san." Tatsumi soothes, attempting to place his arm around Tsuzuki's shoulders in consolation.  
  
Tsuzuki brushes him away and jumps to his feet, his violet eyes lit up like fireflies, dancing within the growing darkness of the room. "The things he went through! The things he had to face all on his own! I should have been there to protect him!"  
  
Tatsumi gets to his feet as well, adamant in calming Tsuzuki down, and places a very firm hand on Tsuzuki's shoulder--one that will not be so easily dismissed. "Then you can protect him now. If these events happened as the journal says, then we must be cautious. We must be alert. This Muraki could very well be in Tokyo as we speak."  
  
"Oh God!"  
  
"But panicking will help no one. You must keep your head if you hope to fend off this threat. Do you understand me?"  
  
Caught by Tatsumi's fierce, blue eyes--eyes that demand full, unwavering attention--Tsuzuki feels his shivers lessen and his rapid pulse return to normal before he has even begun to consciously make the decision to calm down on his own. Something behind those eyes speaks volumes, displaying power and experience Tsuzuki finds greatly humbling.  
  
"Go to your friend, Tsuzuki-san, and be a comfort to him in these harsh times." Tatsumi instructs, his grip on Tsuzuki's shoulder loosening with a sense of ease and strong support. "The horrors ahead we shall all face together."  
  
Suddenly, Tsuzuki is nodding, and with surprisingly little apprehension, he finds himself heading out of the room to do as the good doctor has told him. He pauses a moment at the door to smile in gratitude, but still, at his core he knows to be fearful of what lies ahead of them.  
  
Walking to the far side of the room where Tsuzuki had thrown the journal, Tatsumi plucks it gently from the floor, holding it in his hands as if it contains more than just a tale of evil, but evil itself.  
  
"You shall not escape me this time...Muraki."

A/N  
  
How can any of you possibly forgive me for abandoning this fic for so many months? By yelling at me through reviews. :-P Actually, I am so ashamed, I will understand if you have completely forgotten this fic even existed, but if you remember, and if you have been kind enough to read this new installment, I hope you will have faith in my ability to finish this fic. It really does mean alot to me and I want to see it done.

Crim


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